CNN – National

By Sara Smart, CNN A 90-year-old woman will finally walk across the stage and receive her diploma, 71 years after she first enrolled in college. Joyce DeFauw, then Joyce Viola Kane, started her freshman year at Northern Illinois University in 1951 with a plan to graduate with a degree in home economics. But those plans

By Christina Maxouris, CNN There were a million things running through James Slaugh’s mind as he was rushed to a nearby hospital after the deadly rampage in Club Q, in Colorado Springs, last month. Among them: what kind of bills he would be facing. “My first night in the ER, that was in the back

By Nouran Salahieh, CNN As freed WNBA star Brittney Griner visits a Texas military medical facility following nearly 10 months of imprisonment in Russia, Jorge Toledo — one of the “Citgo 6” — spoke to CNN Saturday about how reintegration into society can take time and effort. Toledo was released in October as part of

By Zoe Sottile, CNN After over twenty years in captivity, Mark, the last of Albania’s “restaurant bears,” has safely arrived at his new home, an animal sanctuary in Austria, according to the animal rescue group Four Paws International. So-called “restaurant bears” have historically been kept in tiny cages near restaurants or hotels, where they served

By Nouran Salahieh and Paradise Afshar, CNN The eruption of the world’s largest active volcano — Mauna Loa in Hawaii — may soon come to an end, according to the US Geological Survey. Mauna Loa began erupting November 27, choreographing a spectacular display that sent rivers of molten rock gushing down its side and drawing

By Celina Tebor, CNN Attorneys representing the brother of Hae Min Lee, the teenager whose 1999 killing was investigated on the hit podcast “Serial,” requested a redo of the hearing in which a judge vacated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed. Syed had been accused of killing the teen and served more than 20 years

By Emma Tucker, CNN After spending 25 years in prison on murder convictions related to the 1996 shooting death of their friend, two Georgia men were exonerated this week, after new evidence uncovered in a true-crime podcast last year proved their innocence, their lawyers said. Darrell Lee Clark and his co-defendant Cain Joshua Storey were

By Taylor Romine and Ray Sanchez, CNN No injuries were reported after part of a cliff collapsed onto a beach Friday in coastal Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles County, the Southern California city said in a statement. The landslide, at 10 a.m. local time, forced the closure of the beach and comes as an

By Amanda Watts and Jason Hanna, CNN A New Orleans Police Department employee who was driving for Uber in her time off was stabbed to death by a passenger on Thursday, and a suspect has been arrested, authorities said. Yolanda Dillion, 54, picked up an Uber passenger in New Orleans and drove to the adjacent

By Zoe Sottile, CNN Ninety-five residents of Tampa, Kansas, had the opportunity to experience life in the other Tampa. The residents constitute almost all of the population of Tampa, Kansas, according to a news release from the Tampa International Airport. The trip was a collaboration between Visit Tampa Bay, the Florida city’s tourism marketing agency,

By Andy Rose, CNN A mail carrier was shot to death Friday evening in Milwaukee, police said. Police said the 44-year-old man had worked for the US Postal Service for 18 years. They did not release his name. “The Milwaukee Police Department sends our sincere condolences to the victim’s family and to the USPS for

By Zoe Sottile, CNN Julius’ Bar, one of New York City’s oldest LGBT bars and the location of a crucial 1960s protest, has been officially recognized as a city landmark. The bar was officially recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on December 6th, according to a news release from the New York

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN After being imprisoned in Russia for nearly 10 months, WNBA star Brittney Griner’s safe return to the US on Friday was marked by a stop at a Texas military medical facility for a routine evaluation, the US State Department said. Griner arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas,

By Amir Vera, CNN College football fans and HBCU alumni are still coming to terms with Deion Sanders announcing his departure from Jackson State University for his new head coaching gig at the University of Colorado. The move struck a chord, especially among alumni of the Mississippi college, with some calling Sanders a “sell out”

By Rob Frehse, CNN A top thoroughbred trainer who prosecutors said doped nearly all the horses under his control pleaded guilty Friday in a federal court, the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York announced. Jason Servis pleaded guilty for his role acquiring, distributing and directing others to administer performance enhancing drugs